John McCain, the UnMaverick

Good Morning, all: I have been busy with trying to make my house less porous and more livable, so I haven't been able to spend the time thinking about making my thoughtless comments here. I lifted this, with permission, from "God Is For Suckers" blog. It was put up there by Eve. _______________________________________________________________ OK, I confess, I just thought this was funny - though not to the Mavericks, it seems… [snippet] “I’m just enraged that McCain calls himself a maverick,” said Terrellita Maverick, 82, a San Antonio native who proudly carries the name of a family that has been known for its progressive politics since the 1600s, when an early ancestor in Boston got into trouble with the law over his agitation for the rights [my emphasis] of indentured servants [but conversely was one of the first owners of black slaves in the colonies]. It appears that Ms. Maverick’s ancestor Samuel Augustus Maverick (in pic), a Texas cattleman who among other acts signed the Texas Declaration of Independence, had a habit of not branding his livestock, which led to unbranded cattle being called “Maverick’s” and later “mavericks.” The term then became applied to people who also stand out from the herd, so to speak: “refuse to abide by the dictates of or resist adherence to a group; dissenter[s]; [are] independent in thought and action or exhibit such independence” (The Free Dictionary). The Maverick family didn’t just inherit this legacy, but have continued to illustrate it as well. Ol’ Sam’s grandson Fontaine Maury Maverick, who won both a Silver Star and Purple Heart in World War I, got himself labelled a “Communist” by conservatives, costing him his re-election bid for San Antonio mayor. He went on to serve the Roosevelt Administration in the Smaller War Plants Corporation and coined a term of his own, “gobbledygook;” we use it nowadays mostly as a synonym for any gibberish, but Maury Sr. was referring to the dense bureaucratic language that so infuriated him. His son Maury Jr., a World War II veteran (Marines), kept up the family tradition as a civil libertarian, lawyer, Texas legislator, and columnist who defended those “scorned by society,” like atheists and draft resisters, with a famed passion. His last piece (I’m still looking for it), published post-mortem by The San Antonio Express-News, strongly spoke out against the impending Iraqi invasion. And his sister Terrellita herself is no slouch, either; she’s a member emeritus of the board of the San Antonio chapter of the ACLU. [snippet] “It’s just incredible — the nerve! — to suggest that he’s not part of that Republican herd. Every time we hear it, all my children and I and all my family shrink a little and say, ‘Oh, my God, he said it again.’ ” “He’s a Republican,” she said. “He’s branded.” _______________________________________________________ I think that Ms. Maverick has a lot more on the ball than the Paris Hilton's "old white-haired dude." Re: The "debate" of last evening (Thank GOD, that fucking travsty is over with!!). In solidarity with Joe The Plumber, I am flying my trou at "half-staff", so to speak. For, when "plumbers' cleavage is outlawed, only outlaws will have "plumbers' cleavage."